The members of Lycaon Pictus met while attending Bard College in upstate New York. A school known for curriculum in the arts, it was only a matter of time when Aaron Diskin and Simon Marcus formed the band Challenge of The Future which included fellow classmate, and later Yeah Yeah Yeahs guitarist, Nick Zinner.

John Morton (aka Lycaon Mortis) formed the Dieyetribe Records label at that time, and after signing Challenge of The Future, saw the band build a large following at Bard, and eventually migrate to NYC, where they went on to help lay the groundwork for the explosion of the Brooklyn music scene. Morton also moved to New York, where he worked in the studio with Challenge of The Future, DJd at New York's famed SoundLab parties on bills with Anti-Pop Consortium.

Challenge of The Future dissolved in 2000 when Zinner decided to focus on Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and soon Diskin approached Morton with some songs he has been working on under the name Lycaon Pictus. The name Diskin chose, the scientific designation for the African Wild Dog - an endangered species - reflected the underground musical uprising of the time. Diskin's songs at this time were all pure, uncensored expression, running the gamut from soul-baring introspections to irreverent, expletive-laden humor.

Lycaon Pictus debuted as a duo in 2002 and quickly became a staple at promoter Todd P's underground parties, leaving an impression with its Devo-esque utilitarian jumpsuits, and fire and ice dynamic, which saw Morton quiet and reserved, focused on manipulating a sampler and keyboards, and Diskin all kinetic energy, running through the crowd, gesticulating, and sometimes getting naked.

Lycaon Pictus soon became a favorite of Village Voice columnist Chuck Eddy, who listed the Lycaon Pictus EP "Rough Telephone" as one of his Top 10 Singles of 2003 in the Village Voice "Pazz and Jop" critic's poll. To expand its sound for the debut Lycaon Pictus album Deviation Amplifier, Diskin and Morton invited their old friend Marcus to join the band on drums.

Deviation Amplifier, which was recorded by Dreiky Caprice of Crash Worship and Walter Martin of The Walkmen, was released in 2004 on the Avant-God label, now owned and operated by Morton along with Excepter's Nathan Corbin. The three-piece version of Lycaon Pictus made its debut in Boston, opening for the Amanda Palmer's band The Dresden Dolls, and with the addition of Marcus on drums, the show became a bombastic, high-energy, pummeling performance which was always louder than every other band on the bill.

The trio played out constantly, and quickly wrote a slew of new material for its second album Personal Disaster, released in late 2005. With its new sound, instead of being compared to Pere Ubu and The Residents, Lycaon Pictus was now bring compared to Can, Public Image Limited, and punk rock-era Wire instead of synth-pop-era Wire.

While recording its third album in 2007, Lycaon Pictus was approached by filmmaker and friend Austin Chick about using some Lycaon Pictus music in his upcoming film August. Chick heard some of the material that the band was working on in the studio and decided to use an instrumental version of the Lycaon Pictus track "Blood Is In The Air" in the film, released in 2008 and starring Josh Hartnett, Naomie Harris, Rip Torn, and David Bowie.

The band's self-titled third album was finally completed and released in 2009, and a reinvigorated, Lycaon Pictus went out on a tour that brought about yet another prolific songwriting period for the band. Since that time, the members of Lycaon Pictus have been balancing the call of family life with outside creative pursuits such as Diskin's participation in punk-Klezmer band, Golem, and Morton's burgeoning career in acting, but plans are now underway to bring another Lycaon Pictus album to life.

Spurring on the completion of this new record, and a new round of interest in Lycaon Pictus, is the band's appearance (on screen this time) in another Austin Chick film, Girls Against Boys. The movie, about two girls who go on a killing spree against the men in their lives who have wronged them, features a Halloween party scene depicting Lycaon Pictus performing its song "I Give You A Rose," from the Personal Disaster album. In addition to the party scene, two more Lycaon Pictus songs appear on the Girls Against Boys soundtrack.Girls Against Boys made its debut at the SXSW Film Festival in 2012, where it played to sold-out theaters, and was one of the first films to find distribution. Girls Against Boys hit theatres in February 2013.

In March of 2013, Diskin and Marcus reunited with their Challenge of the Future band mates to play a benefit show. Long time friend of the band Sebastian Quezada had recently passed away, and the old band decided to get together to raise money for a college fund for his daughter Isabella. Challenge of the Future's first show in 13 years took place at Union Pool in Brooklyn, and sold out in under four hours. After the benefit show, the band was approached by actor/director Adrian Grenier, a friend who also attended Bard College with them. He offered that the band record a track at his Wreckroom studios, and then sell the track to raise more money for Isabella's college fund. The Band release the single "You Can't Call Off The Dog" in June of 2013.

In Decmeber of 2014, Lycaon Pictus released their fourth and final album "Melting Glaciers." The album was recorded in Brooklyn NY by Steve Silverstein and Andrew Barker over the course of two years. The band celebrated the release of the album and played their farewell show simultaneously on December 13th, 2014. The amicable breakup does not mark the end of creative and/or music pursuits for the three band members, however. Aaron Diskin still plays in the bands Golem, Predator Prey, and Flying Teeth. Simon Marcus continues to work as Head of People Operations at Spotify, and John Christopher Morton is focusing on his acting career.